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Duder
Citizen
Username: El_duderino
Post Number: 963
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 12:27 pm: | 
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So, you know that box of cards you had as a kid that you were sure would fund your own kids' college education if only your mom hadn't thrown it out? Turns out, my mom didn't throw it out. (In fact, now that I have a basement, she's into giving everything back to me I left lo those many years ago.)
I have no illusions that this collection, mostly from the 70s and 80s, is worth anything special, but some quick research shows I have a few cards worth a little something anyway.
A quick check on ebay, for one particular card, came up anywhere from $30-$650, some with the same rating numbers. Might the $650 been an example of people getting caught up in an auction?
Anyone have any experience with this? I'm tempted to put up "mystery assortment box of cards from mom's basement" and see what happens...I've never sold anything on eBay before...
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Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 13303
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 12:28 pm: |
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Maybe you should give it to your kids to fund your grandchildren's college. 
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Duder
Citizen
Username: El_duderino
Post Number: 964
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 12:51 pm: |
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I thought about handing 'em down. But I have enough other sports-related crap they probably won't care about when the time comes. And I thought it'd be a good way to test the ebay waters, but the majority of sellers there seem to know what they are doing.
(Besides, the real prize for them will be my dad's collection from the 50s and 60s he still has.) |
Tom N
Citizen
Username: Tjn
Post Number: 96
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 12:56 pm: |
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Get yourself the recent copy of Beckett's price guide magazine for baseball cards. They sell it at Barnes and Noble. That should help you determine if cards are being under or overpriced on EBay. But even if the price guide tells you the card is worth $100, finding a person who wants to buy it for near that price is another story. I hope you didn't rubberband the cards together either as that is a common occurance that damages the cards. |
Buzzsaw
Citizen
Username: Buzzsaw
Post Number: 4298
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 1:01 pm: |
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I wouldn't sell them all in one lump.
Group the lesser ones into lots
and the trophys as single auctions.
I used to ebay a lot. Not b ball cards though.
Don't use other auctions as a gide....
Now, if I were you - I'd find one of those "ebay stores" and let them deal w/ it. Could be worth it for the hassle. |
Mayor McCheese
Supporter
Username: Mayor_mccheese
Post Number: 1098
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 1:13 pm: |
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Those ebay store can eat away a lot of the profit.
As for people getting caught up in auctions, you might check the ending times on those auctions. Prices can go up quite a bit in the last hour of bidding. (I usually won't bid on an auction until the last hour or so.) So, the prices may be different depending on different time levels left.
Buzzsaw is probably right about separating the better cards. The more of them you group together the less you will end up per card.
And if you get a guide book, don't expect to get anything near the price they quote. These guide books are insane. I think they just pull the numbers out of their *ss, because the prices are certaintly not based on either the buying price or even the asking price. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 13305
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 2:20 pm: |
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If you're really after getting the most from your stuff, find several similar items over a few weeks. Click on "watch this item" so you can see what they sell for. Pick a good time of the week for the auction to end. No holidays.
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Crazy_quilter
Citizen
Username: Crazy_quilter
Post Number: 240
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 2:29 pm: |
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did you check completed auctions? that's a box on the left hand side. that gives you an idea what it really went for. Definitely do individual sales or group some good ones together. condition makes a huge difference. try a few to see how it goes. |
Josh Holtz
Citizen
Username: Jholtz
Post Number: 370
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 2:38 pm: |
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Duder: I, too, have those same boxes of cards and one day went on Ebay. Lord, was I confused. I had to call up my brother to figure out what was going on. When we were younger they rated cards in a few categories like mint, good, fair & poor (all primarily based on the condition of the edges. Nowadays the there are so many different factors determining the value of the card like "how is the photo centered on the card."
When he was younger he went to the store and bought a few boxes of Fleer basketball cards. Didn't realize what the cards were going to be worth until Jordan and that era of players became HOFs. He sold all of the cards for something like 10K about 6 years back. I think he had 8 Jordans and fetched about $800 for each of them.
When I called him and asked about the confusing values of cards he told me that a perfect Jordan is worth $30k. However, a normal mint Jordan is still what he got for it 6 years ago. Confusing.
Turns out he used the 10k to buy Oracle stock. Then the stock was hit hard by the tech crash. Should have kept the cards. |
Duder
Citizen
Username: El_duderino
Post Number: 966
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 2:51 pm: |
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Josh, I totally remember the ratings for the cards as being mint, good, fair & poor... the first thing I noticed about the ratings on eBay were all different values attached to different aspects of the card. And the certified ratings? Who makes the official word and how much does it cost to get your cards rated? Crazy.
These cards are in wildly varying degrees of health (no rubber bands, though). The older ones are more beat up because I flipped them with my friends. Later, I guess I realized they had value and started putting them in plastic cases.
Interesting, too, is that the football and basketball cards seem to have higher value. Rarer, perhaps?
And anyone know about cards that wern't from the Big 3 card producers? Like the ones that came in Hostess boxes?
I feel like Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons...
Thanks for the Ebay advice...
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sportsnut
Citizen
Username: Sportsnut
Post Number: 2354
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 3:21 pm: |
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My grandparents owned a store in Queens that sold baseball cards (among other things). Back in 1974/5 my brother and I were rummaging through some things and came across a shoebox full of baseball cards still in their original wrapper, gum in tact. Of course since we were kids we opened them and my younger brother got his hands on them and wound up coloring in the eyes of Johhny Bench and Pete Rose. The set also came with some kind of baseball game cards. Any way all I remember is that I kept a Mickey Mantle card from that set and it is now in one of those baseball card holders. I wonder what its worth.
And as an aside my grandfather on my stepdad's side was a securtiy guard at Ebbet's field in Brooklyn and as a result my stepdad has autographs from a whole bunch of Brooklyn Dodgers and NY Yankees. He has a picture of himself, his dad, Preacher Roe & Duke Snider in the Dodger dugout. All pretty cool. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 13313
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 3:30 pm: |
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Can you retire on that stuff now?
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John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 139
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 2:57 pm: |
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Duder,
the stuff from the 50's and 60's is not worth what it was -say- 15 years ago. The highest value is for stuff in the 70's - 80s. That's becauses the guys with money are the ones who are now in their 40s and 50s and have money to spare and want to recover memories of the heros who were playing when they were kids.
Age of the material is not of major concern. To wit: you can buy cigarette cards from the 19102-20's for a couple of hundred dollars because no one knows who they were. Of course, I am not talking about Babe Ruth or someone of that caliber. But common cards from that era have little value. |
Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 6115
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 3:42 pm: |
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Duder..do what that guy did with the Key and the Envelope.
Put a baseball card in an envelope. One of your better ones. And have a mystery baseball card auction. Lots of people paid a lot of attention to both the Key and the Envelope auctions and they ended up doing really well.
Another thing. If you are going to split up the collection ( a good idea) don't sell the components all at once. Spread it out over time.
But the "MYSTERY BASEBALL CARD" from the BALCO ERA might fetch a handsome sum right now. |
Duder
Citizen
Username: El_duderino
Post Number: 971
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 3:53 pm: |
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That's a good idea, Duncan. I seriously might give that shot. What the hell, right?
I put two cards up this afternoon. No bites yet. My descriptions are pretty bland...anyone think jazzing them up would help? Probably not.
I also thought about putting together themes, like the Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire Three-card Steroids Spectacular. |
Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 6116
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 3:55 pm: |
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give us a link duder
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Duder
Citizen
Username: El_duderino
Post Number: 973
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 3:58 pm: |
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To the ones on eBay now? Or when the Mystery Special goes up?
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Fabulouswalls
Citizen
Username: Fabulouswalls
Post Number: 49
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 9:04 pm: |
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I work with a guy who sold lots of BB cards on eBay. The best thing to do after checking Beckett's would be to take some of what you think are the best cards and send them out to have them graded. Typically, the graded cards are the ones that will sell for more money. Of course there still has to be someone who wants the card. You might end up listing the card several times before someone buys it. |
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